Judges Chapter 12
Depart From Me, I Never Knew You!
The Ephraimites were angry with the Gileadites and threatened to burn their houses down. So the Gileadites went into battle against them and defeated them. Whenever the fugitives of the Ephraimites tried to cross over the Jordan in order to sneak amongst the Gileadites, the Gileadites would ask them if they were Ephraimites. If they said NO then the Gileadites would ask them to say the word “Shibboleth” because the Ephraimites were not able to say the “Sh” sound and would end up saying “Sibboleth” instead. Then the Gileadites would know they were lying and would then kill them. They ended up killing 42,000 of their enemies, the Ephraimites.
This chapter reminds me of Matthew 7:13-23 (read it). Because on Judgment Day when we stand before the Lord there will be many who will say I was a Christian. But God will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of evil.” Because God will not be concerned with what you say as much as he will be concerned with what your life produced for him. He’s looking for those who will do his will and produce good fruit. Those who produce bad fruit because of following their flesh desires versus God’s desire will be cast into the lake of fire called hell.
Are you producing good fruit or bad fruit for the Lord? Are you doing his will or your will?
